Officials search area for possible explosives after suspect and deputies exchange shots in Georgia

A sheriff’s deputy was shot in the leg and the suspected gunman was killed after a Friday morning confrontation at a courthouse in Cumming, Ga., authorities said.

Officials said they were searching the area as a precaution for any explosives.

In a statement released to the media, Forsyth County Sheriff’s Department officials said the incident began at 9:57 a.m. when a man drove up to the courthouse in Cumming, about 35 miles northeast of Atlanta. Witnesses told reporters at the scene they heard shots fired.

Sheriff Duane Piper told reporters that the unnamed deputy, a 25-year veteran of the department, was shot in the leg. He was taken to North Fulton Hospital in Roswell and is expected to recover.

No details were available on the suspect, who died, the sheriff told reporters.

“The area in the courthouse square has been secured. The roadways surrounding the courthouse continue to be closed. There is no estimation as to when roadways will be reopened,” officials said, describing a search for possible explosives.

A witness, Alan Neal, told WSB-TV that he was at an intersection in front of the courthouse when he heard gunfire.

After “two or three pops,” he said he saw deputies fire on someone in front of the courthouse.